Homestead-Miami Speedway gave the IndyCar Series a South Florida-style sendoff on Saturday with fireworks and flyovers, but the crowd was so sparse, it wasn't difficult to see why the track is not on the series 2011 schedule. Speedway President Matthew Becherer said he wanted to keep IndyCar, but hosting the series — as the track has for the past decade — costs the speedway. He said when IndyCar chose to raise the sanctioning fee to host the series by 30 percent, the track couldn't justify the expense.

The IZOD IndyCar Series champion is still prone to the same pitfalls of traffic in his hometown as mainstream motorists. Ryan Hunter-Reay was overdue for a championship celebration Monday afternoon with one of his main sponsors, DHL Express. Employees milled around his idle No. 28 car in the parking lot outside company headquarters in Plantation wondering, Where's Ryan? Christine Nashick, vice president of marketing, had the answer. "He's stuck in traffic on 595. I think that's pretty ironic," Nashick said.

When Milka Duno was a 12-year-old growing up in Venezuela, she used to steal the keys to her mother's car to teach herself how to drive, because her father told her that "Driving is for a man. School is for you." Duno doesn't sneak around with her driving anymore -- a two-time winner at Miami in the Rolex Grand Am Series, the 34-year-old has competed in the United States as a professional racecar driver since 1999. And now, Duno may have an opportunity on open-wheel racing's biggest stage, as it is expected she will be announcing today a deal that will put her in the IndyCar Series down the road.

As Ryan Hunter-Reay prepared for the final race of the season, he tried to calm himself. "God, just please let me come back with my all my limbs working," the Fort Lauderdale resident told himself Sunday. IndyCar was about to cap off the year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where safety questions had already been raised due to a large, 34-car field racing on a fast, high-banked oval course. "I've never seen all the drivers that nervous before a race," Hunter-Reay said Wednesday.

Al Unser Jr. isn't surprised three women - Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno - will start in Saturday's Firestone Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the final race of the season. "It's a science," he said of driving, "and it can be taught." It's tougher to teach controlled aggression and an uncontrollable desire to win. Especially while driving an Indy car at 220 mph. Master that, and you're more than a novelty or a sideshow; with a sponsor, you can compete in the IndyCar Series, man or woman.

As Gil de Ferran prepared to test his IndyCar at Indianapolis in late October, he had a secret. "I remem-ber stepping into the car at Indianapolis thinking, `This can be just another day or this can be the very last day I drive a racing car,'" de Ferran said. A month earlier, the 35-year-old Brazilian was left remembering little of an accident during the Delphi Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway that left him with a mild concussion. "My memory of that weekend, as a whole, is a dreamlike memory -- you don't know if it really happened or not," de Ferran said.

Tickets go on sale Saturday for the five NASCAR and IndyCar series championships Homestead-Miami Speedway is hosting this fall. Tickets for adults start at $30 for the Izod IndyCar Series Championship Weekend (Indy Lights and IndyCar series championships) that will be held Oct. 1-2; and $55 for Ford Championship Weekend (NASCAR Camping World Truck, Nationwide and Sprint Cup series championships) Nov. 19-21. Kids 12 and under are free during IndyCar weekend and at the NASCAR Truck series finale.

Homestead-Miami Speedway will continue its reign as the "championship track" next year, as the Indy Racing League announced the track will host the IndyCar Series finale in 2010. Homestead-Miami Speedway, which hosted the IndyCar Series season opener for seven years from 2002 to 2008, will host the series finale this year on Oct. 10. Next year's finale is scheduled at Homestead on Oct. 2, 2010. Next year's 17-race schedule opens March 14 in Brazil. - Sarah Talalay

Homestead-Miami Speedway will again host the Grand Prix of Miami in 2011. The NASCAR-owned Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series is scheduled to hold a dozen events next year, including a stop at the speedway on March 5. The Grand-Am race starts off Homestead's 2011 racing schedule that will again conclude with November 2011's Ford Championship Weekend — the finales of NASCAR's Camping World Trucks, Nationwide and Sprint Cup series....

Masters champion Bernhard Langer has withdrawn from this week's Lancome Trophy tournament in Paris, hoping back and neck problems ease in time for next week's Ryder Cup... Bebeto, Brazil's top forward, has received medical clearance to play Sunday in a crucial World Cup qualifying match with Uruguay. Bebeto has a muscle tear in his right leg. Brazil can qualify with a tie. Uruguay needs a victory, or a tie if Bolivia loses to Ecuador on Sunday... Cincinnati recruit Dontonio Wingfield - considered one of the top 15 prep players in the nation last season - was jailed Tuesday night in Albany, Ga., after a scuffle with police.

The theme song from the movie "Top Gun" provided perfect accompaniment to Tuesday's unveiling of Ryan Hunter-Reay's car and new sponsor DHL for the upcoming IndyCar series. Fitting, too, as confirmation of a boyhood dream turned into an even better reality for a South Florida kid who always had go-fast ambitions. "I wanted to do exactly what was in 'Top Gun.' I think I'm pretty close to it, and I'm probably having more fun. These things are fighter jets on the ground, and we put on one heck of a show, too," Hunter-Reay said, adding that his obsession with fighter jets was based on, "They were the ultimate go-fast machine, and they shot missiles, too. " Hunter-Reay, 30, doesn't have missiles at his disposal, but he has expectations to soar higher than ever before in his racing career, buoyed by a two-year contract with Andretti Autosport and a multiyear sponsorship agreement with DHL. The car was shown for the first time with the familiar yellow-and-red banner of the express delivery company Tuesday at DHL regional headquarters in Plantation for a gathering of employees and guests.

Special ticket packages, entertainment, and an expanded bring your own policy highlight Homestead-Miami Speedway's efforts to attract fans to Ford Championship Weekend, which opens Friday with the Ford 200 Camping World Truck series finale. Kids 12 and under get in free on Friday ; and can watch the Nationwide Series Ford 300 finale on Saturday for just $10. Tickets for the Ford 400 Sprint Cup Championship on Sunday start at $55. Want to attend an exclusive Question and Answer session with NASCAR Nationwide and IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick?

Homestead-Miami Speedway will again host the Grand Prix of Miami in 2011. The NASCAR-owned Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series is scheduled to hold a dozen events next year, including a stop at the speedway on March 5. The Grand-Am race starts off Homestead's 2011 racing schedule that will again conclude with November 2011's Ford Championship Weekend — the finales of NASCAR's Camping World Trucks, Nationwide and Sprint Cup series....

Homestead-Miami Speedway gave the IndyCar Series a South Florida-style sendoff on Saturday with fireworks and flyovers, but the crowd was so sparse, it wasn't difficult to see why the track is not on the series 2011 schedule. Speedway President Matthew Becherer said he wanted to keep IndyCar, but hosting the series — as the track has for the past decade — costs the speedway. He said when IndyCar chose to raise the sanctioning fee to host the series by 30 percent, the track couldn't justify the expense.

Penske driver Helio Castroneves can't escape ticket-hungry friends this week. They all want a chance to attend the IndyCar Series' last race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His advice for them all? Go online. De Ferran Dragon Racing owner Gil de Ferran and Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay have faced similar pressure. All three are residents of Fort Lauderdale and have their eyes on victory in Cafes de Brasil Indy 300 at 7 p.m. Saturday in Homestead-Miami Speedway.

In advance of Saturday's Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 ÃÆÃâÃâÃâ the IndyCar Series championship ÃÆÃâÃâÃâ at Homestead-Miami Speedway, several IndyCar drivers will be meeting fans and signing autographs Thursday in the IZOD shop in the men's department at Macy's in Dadeland Mall. Among the drivers scheduled to attend are Danica Patrick, Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, Will Power, Tony Kanaan, Milko Duno and EJ Viso.

In advance of Saturday's Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 ÃÆÃâÃâÃâ the IndyCar Series championship ÃÆÃâÃâÃâ at Homestead-Miami Speedway, several IndyCar drivers will be meeting fans and signing autographs Thursday in the IZOD shop in the men's department at Macy's in Dadeland Mall. Among the drivers scheduled to attend are Danica Patrick, Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, Will Power, Tony Kanaan, Milko Duno and EJ Viso.

Scott Dixon walked along pit lane after turning a 212.733 mph lap Friday night, knowing that Dario Franchitti had just turned a 213.714 mph lap, and was asked if he was Franchitti, should he feel comfortable? "No," Dixon said. Dixon's Target Chip Ganassi teammate, defending race champion Dan Wheldon, proved him right, taking the pole for tonight's XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 by going 214.322 to edge the Penske racer of defending series champion Sam Hornish Jr., who was just .0028 of a second off Wheldon's pace.

Tickets go on sale Saturday for the five NASCAR and IndyCar series championships Homestead-Miami Speedway is hosting this fall. Tickets for adults start at $30 for the Izod IndyCar Series Championship Weekend (Indy Lights and IndyCar series championships) that will be held Oct. 1-2; and $55 for Ford Championship Weekend (NASCAR Camping World Truck, Nationwide and Sprint Cup series championships) Nov. 19-21. Kids 12 and under are free during IndyCar weekend and at the NASCAR Truck series finale.

So many celebrities made a grand entrance on the orange carpet at Monday's Dolphins-Jets game that Texas Rangers and former Marlins catcher Pudge Rodriguez was almost lost in a bottleneck when legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula arrived and posed with some Victoria's Secret angel wannabes. It was that kind of night. The Dolphins sported orange jerseys; the cheerleaders wore orange high socks. Dolphins owner Steve Ross arrived with ESPN President George Bodenheimer. Latin celebrities helped the NFL celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month: Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi and soap opera star wife Adamari Lopez wore matching No. 1 jerseys.